The production of metal anodes by casting them on a rotary casting wheel for subsequent electrolytic refinement is well known in the art. Once the crude molten metal, i.e. copper, nickel, lead, etc. has been cast into a predetermined shape, preferably a rectangular plate having support members or ears protruding outwardly in a perpendicular direction from opposing side edges at an upper edge thereof, the anode is removed from the casting apparatus and transported to the next work station for further processing.
Various methods have been described in the prior art to facilitate the removal of these anodes from a casting apparatus, after which they may be transported to the next stop on the production line. U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,235 to Ono et al. for example, discloses an apparatus for shaping such cast anodes which further includes a device which is moveable vertically and horizontally for initially transferring the anodes into a receptacle for being shaped and then transferring the shaped anodes from the receptacle to facilitate further treatment.
The transfer device is supported above the shaping work station of the apparatus with which it is operatively associated and comprises a carrier portion mounted on rails for lateral movement above the anode shaping device. Two hanging frames, capable of pneumatically controlled vertical movement, are suspended from the left and right sides of the carrier portion. Moveable hook members are suspended from either edge of the left-hand hanging frame for receiving the support ears of a plurality of anodes supplied in sequence by a so-called "constantly pitching" feed conveyor provided upstream of the shaping device.
The anode blanks are advanced along the feed conveyor until the support member contacts triangular pawls which are radially spaced upon the surface of a pair of rotating discs and project therefrom. The blanks are thus lifted upwardly by the pawls, one-by-one, as the discs rotate and are transferred onto the constantly pitching conveyor in a spaced relationship equal to the spacing of the receiving channels of the shaping device. Opposing pairs of hooks are utilized to remove the worked anodes from the shaping device after they have been processed by discharging them onto an endless discharge conveyor located downstream from the shaping device.
An apparatus for removing a cast metal anode from a mold and thereafter transporting it to a quenching bath has been described by J. D. McCain and I. A. Rana in their article entitled, "New Techniques And New Efficiencies At The San Manuel Smelter" published in 1983 by the Metallurgical Society of the American Institute of Metallurgical Engineers as a part of its conference proceedings entitled "Advances In Sulphide Smelting", Vol. 2, Technology & Practice. This reference discloses an automated anode take-off apparatus utilizing a first pair of rotary lift arms to remove an anode from the casting mold, rotate it through an arc of approximately 180.degree. and pass it along to a second pair of "ear twisting" arms which maintains the anode in a preselected position while imparting a twist to the support member of the anode, thus permitting the anode to hang vertically from the second pair of rotating arms. Following rotation of the anode through a second arc of approximately 180.degree. on the second pair of arms, a pair of hydraulic push arms receives the processed anode and subsequently stacks the anodes in a quenching bath for cooling and temporary storage.
Applicant has now invented a fully automated anode take-off system utilizing only one set of rotating arm members which facilitates the removal of a cast metal anode from a mold located on a rotating casting wheel and subsequently transports these anodes to a liquid quenching bath.